This invention relates to a method for obtaining an inner fillet from a poultry carcass part and to a device for processing a carcass part, for the purpose of obtaining the inner fillet from the carcass part.
The inner fillets, also called tenders, of poultry, such as chickens or turkeys, are positioned on the breastbone (sternum) on both sides of the crest (crista sterni) thereof and are some of the most valuable meat parts of the poultry.
Removing the inner fillets from a carcass according to the prior art, as described in EP-A-0,695,506, is done by removing the wings from the carcass part, making a separation in the opening bounded by the wishbone and the breastbone, and then scraping away the inner fillets from the carcass part. According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,374, another method of removing inner fillets is partially cutting and scraping away inner fillets from a carcass part without wings, and then pulling away the inner fillets from the carcass part by means of gripping members. According to EP-A-0,695,506 still another way of removing inner fillets involves separating the membrane connections between the inner fillets and the breastbone, cutting open the canalis triosseus, and pulling away the inner fillets by means of the wings connected thereto through tendons.
A common drawback of the above-mentioned methods is that at least part of the tendon, which connects the inner fillet with the associated wing, remains connected to the removed inner fillet. To process the inner fillets into high value consumer products, such as xe2x80x9cnuggetsxe2x80x9d in which tendon parts are undesirable, the tendons must subsequently be removed. The removal of tendons from the inner fillets usually must be done manually. This method requires a considerable use of expensive human labor, may be imprecise and consequently result in only moderate quality meat, and compromises the hygiene of the meat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,283 discloses a device for automatically cutting off a part from the tendon connected to each inner fillet from inner fillets conveyed in trays. The inner fillets are placed and positioned in the trays manually. No solution is provided for removing the complete undesired tendon part from an inner fillet.
The object of the invention is to provide a method and a device for mechanically detaching (either partially or completely) the undesired tendon part from an inner fillet. The poultry carcass is mounted on a fixing member and positioned so that the tendons are exposed. A processing device, comprising rotating cutters, either partially or completely detaches the tendon from the inner fillets. The cutters make a uniform incision at the moment when the inner fillet and the associated tendon are still essentially in their natural positions. The fillets may then be removed manually or mechanically from the carcass. The automated method and device according to the invention results in substantial savings in labor costs, as well as improving the quality and accuracy of the processing.